


Trust Fall

by Hagar



Category: Person of Interest (TV)
Genre: (Root was raised in Small Town TX okay), Collection: Purimgifts Day 2, Community: purimgifts, F/F, Religious Imagery & Symbolism
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-24
Updated: 2016-03-24
Packaged: 2018-05-27 07:09:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 654
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6274711
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hagar/pseuds/Hagar
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>This wasn't about atonement; that wasn't important. The important thing was, Sameen was still alive.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Trust Fall

**Author's Note:**

  * For [willowcabins](https://archiveofourown.org/users/willowcabins/gifts).



> Love to L., who helped me sort out Root's perspective.

_You’re wrong,_ Harold had told her years before. _He proves you wrong,_ he said, and meant John: _Not all people are evil._ She really was wrong, but so was Harold: like Root, John is capable of terrible things that even an ocean of regret would be too shallow to wash out. It’s not the Machine either, but for a different reason: _She_ transcends humanity. But just like Root had hoped, She pulled her up and put her on the path; and every day since and for the rest of her life, Root is and will be grateful for having been so, so wrong. The answer - proof and explanation both - the answer, that’s Sameen..

Sameen’s is the shape Root had decided to make herself into, all those years before: unshackled by those pesky emotions, sticky like the stain of sin that pastors would yammer on about. Here was the reason for all these mistakes, all the dumb decision that people make - and Root had decided this wasn’t going to be her. Sympathy, guilt, shame - she tore it all out. The selfishness remained but then, Root was bad code just like everyone else; she never thought she could scrub all the depravity off herself, she wasn’t _that_ arrogant. No: she made a choice out of it, instead. _Mistakes_ were for small-town librarians who loved the killers of little girls; Root’s life was a work of art.

Then there was Her. Then, there was Sameen.

Sympathy, guilt, shame - there had never been any in Sameen, to warp and tar her. Conventional human morality would have one believe Sameen was doomed to fail but instead, she excelled. With nothing to compel her, Sameen cared. For what reason, Root couldn’t fathom - but for all the painstaking choices she’d made, for all the triumphs of her will, Root couldn’t compare. What reason seemed to be so crystal-clear to Sameen, Root couldn’t so much as _see,_ let alone understand. It didn’t matter; the Machine had taught her so much already, She would teach her this too in time, if Root was at all capable of learning.

That wasn’t important. The important thing was Root had been wrong, and not all humans were evil; Sameen proved that. The important thing was, Root’d never expected anything in return when she’d thrown herself at the Machine’s feet; yet the Machine taught her and more than that, showed her to Sameen.

Stepping up on that ledge was the least selfish thing that Root’s ever done. Not because she risked her life - not even the Machine could count the number of times Root has done _that_ \- and certainly not because that act was motivated by love. She loved Harold, too, and protecting him from his own cleverness was a purely selfish thing for Root to do. No. To step up, on that ledge and _walk_ ; to look Her in the eye and demand She help Sameen -

Humans did that: they sentenced one another to _Hell_ then washed their hands clean of it. It’d happened to John; and if you asked him, he hadn’t been betrayed - he’s read the terms and conditions, after all. Sameen had read them, too, and that mattered just as little. What has Root ever done, to deserve kindness and grace? It was a debt she could never repay - at least, not fully. She could show she was a good student, though; it wasn’t defiance, to act on what She had taught her. If ever there was someone deserving -

None of the Machine’s humans had ever let Root fall. She lifted her from where she’s been before, _who_ she’s been. Here, now - this was Root’s turn. Whether she died the same day or lived a long, full life - she’d never be able to atone for everything she’s done. This wasn’t about that. It wasn’t important. The important thing was that Sameen was still alive.

And Root was _never_ going to let her fall.

 

 


End file.
